I believe this is the single biggest problem with weight loss, and too few discuss it. I think SP would be an excellent place to disseminate the scientific findings from groups like the team managing the NWCR. I would like to see a whole system set up for tracking maintenance on Spark People that is as visible as the weight loss.

After the initial loss a person is not even halfway "done." I suspect that there needs to be training in maintenance mentality before someone even gets to goal weight. I'm trying to train myself in this, now, so that when I get to goal I will have the hard realistic view I need in order to manage my maintenance, long-term.

I lost over 100 lbs in my 20s through diet and exercise and gained it all back plus a lot more. This time I am playing for keeps, because I will NOT go down this road again. I simply refuse. I've seen what can happen - from the inside - and I WILL NOT go there again.

To that end I've been drawing on all the resources I have, including my skill at reading the scientific literature (I'm a research scientist by trade). I am attempting to prepare myself mentally for what I consider the REALLY hard fight, the one that will come AFTER the loss, the fight of maintenance.

There are a lot of reasons why maintenance is harder. It's not flashy - you're not changing in appearance, so there aren't all those nice external encouragements from other people noticing. In fact, as time goes by, the people who meet you after the loss often have no idea where you've come from. To them you've always looked fit. It's tedious to log food and activity. The temptation to relax is strong, because you already do look and feel good; there isn't the pain of plantar fasciitis or the embarrassment of chairs with arms or airplane seatbelt extenders to remind you of why you're doing this.

When's the last time you saw a media story celebrating someone having maintained a large weight loss? Exactly. They don't, because it's not news, and it's not exciting, and won't sell commercials.

I've been combing the literature for articles about maintenance of weight loss and found a nice 2009 one written by the team behind the national weight control registry www.nwcr.ws

They suggest that keeping contact with maintainers is important for continued maintenance if the loss was facilitated by a program of some kind.

An earlier paper by the same team says that one of the best predictors of weight loss maintenance is to have maintained the loss for 5 years. So once I get to my goal I am going to think about it like cancer. I will stay vigilant and won't consider myself "done" or "fat free" until I've maintained for 5 years.

I will celebrate every month that I've maintained on a countdown to 5 years (60 months).

Statistically, 5% of people who lose a large amount of weight manage to keep it off. That 5% is made of real, live people, living real lives somewhere out there. I am going to do everything in my power to be one of them.

All this points to the need to remain active in places like SparkPeople for many years after reaching goal levels. Which is probably good anyway, because it helps encourage the people just starting out, too.

Great resources, thanks for paving the way! I'm going to need good resources for maintenance in the not too distant future - hopefully some time next year!What I have found helpful on my way there is practicing a mindset like this: To not do anything to lose weight that I couldn't do every day for the rest of my life. Teaching myself new habits and un-learning my old bad ones instead of being on a diet creating a new "normal" for myself. It's a slow process, and I realise that it's a lifelong process, but I also hope it is a sustainable one. I haven't been losing weight before so I don't know if I'll be one of the successful 5%, but I aim to be, and I aim to always be aware and not slip into denial again.

I have some serious doubts about the value of the Michael Eades blog, unfortunately.

He says:"If you analyze these figures something interesting comes to light. 87.6% of successful maintainers (the NWCR database) lost their weight by restricting certain foods, i.e., fat, carbohydrate or protein. No one really restricts protein; itís always fat or carbohydrate. According to the above data, 25% of the people lost their weight by counting fat grams) a low-fat diet), so subtracting this from the 87.6% means that 62.6% of them must have counted carbs, which, Iím sure, was a bitter pill for olí Jim to swallow. And is no doubt why itís reported as it is, i.e., in such a way that it has to be dug out instead of presented directly."

I haven't personally seen the NWCR questionnaires to know whether the original questions are phrased in a way that implies that restricting foods means that you're restricting fat, carbohydrates, or protein instead of... you know... actually restricting FOODS.

Were I a person who just could not be around Oreos and could not eat one Oreo without trying to gobble up an entire bag, so I kept Oreos out of my house entirely, and someone said "Did you lose weight by restricting certain foods?" I would say "Yes, absolutely".

Unless there's something in a piece of context he didn't include, or in the way the questions in the original forms are phrased that I'm not seeing to justify the interpretation (entirely possible, but I'd have thought he'd cite that context to back up his point if so), it really gives the impression that Dr. Eades is so eager to look for something he can jump on that he didn't consider what it actually says and just ran with what he wanted it to say.

You are so right! I always thought weight loss business' like Weight Watchers didn't do much with maintenance because it was financially more lucrative to keep you needing to pay for their services. SparkPeople is free and while the friend support is phenomenal, you are right that it's so tempting to backslide on tracking nutrition and fitness. Maybe some additional incentives for us maintainers would be beneficial! Thanks for addressing this!Joanne

Thx for summarizing, re-visiting and sharing NCWR's insights and findings!

Maintaining is tricky, treacherous territory...we need to be SO careful...as I've found during some recent travels and backslides...back to SPARKIN' away again, though!

I've been a member of NCWR and HIGHLY recommend anyone here at SP to join if you are able. There is much that we can contribute to their research and findings which in turn can benefit ourselves and others!

YUP, been "at goal" too many times to even count. NEVER maintained. Like you though this time yes, it will be different. This time I am not losing weight, I am working at getting healthier. No maybe it is just a fancier way of saying I am losing weight but I am not feeling that way. Symantics though just might be the mind jump start I need.